Gearing for washing machines



' IAMADQL Feb. 6, 1923,

B. c. WHITE. GEARING FOR WASHING MACHINES.

3 SHEETS-SHEET1- HLED JUNE 3,1920.

Feb. 6, 1923.

a-44mm B. 0. WHITE. GEARINGFOR WASHING MACHINES. FILED JUNE 3, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI 2,

ELM-451E911. 3.70. WHITE.

GEARING FOR WASHING MACHINES.

FILED JUNE 3, 1920 3 SHEETS--SHEET 3- f ?atented Feb. ii, i923.

BRUCE CLARK WHITE, OF NEW YORK, N. 'Y., ASSIGNOB 330 FEDERAL ELECTRIC CONCPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ll CORPQZti'hTIOI-l OF ILLINOIS.

GEARING FER NAST-II'NE-i- TEACHINES.

Application filed June 3, 1920.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BRUon CLARK fil nirn, a citizen otthe United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new andnsetnl Improvements in Gearing tor ill-telling Machines; and i. do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drai'vings, and to the letters of reference marl-zed thereon, which form a part of this specincation.

This invention relates to an improvement in gearing for washing machines and consists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention relates to a gearing for washing machines, in which a rotating crank is connected to an oscillating operating arm to impart a rotary, oscillatory movement to the operated member, as the drum or cylinder, of a washing machine.

When a crank is connected by a pitman to drive an oscillating arm, the rate of movement of the oscillating arm will be relatively slower at successive points in its path when moving in a. direction away from .the position of the. crank orbit than at the corresponding points in its path, beginning from the other end of said path, when the oscillating arm is moving towards said crank orbit. This is due to the fact, capable of ready demonstration, that in the movement of the oscillating armaway -from .the crank orbit, its rate of movementis in pro portion to the arithmetical difference between the versed .sines .ot the angles oi the crank and or the pitman, whereas on the return movement oi the oscillating armtoward the crank orbit, its rate of movement is in proportion to the arithmeticalsum of the versed. sines of said angles. The movement of the oscillating arm thus lac-ks unitormity of acceleration in the two directions and while slow-enough at thatend [of its path of movementnearest.to the crank orbit, the movement. is too fast and has too suddenand rapid accelerationupon the re-.

verse,.at the other endof its path of movement.

My invention isdesigned to correct this evil and toproduce a substantiallyunitorm slowing down ands substantially uniform,

Serial No. 386,281.

gradually increasing speed after reversal, at both ends of the path of movement of the oscillating arm.

I Thus one of the objects of the invention is to provide a gearing which is adapted to so translate the rotary movement of a crank arm into an oscillatory movement of an operating arm and ot' the oscillatory washing machine member actuated thereby, that the oscillatory movement shall be uniiorinlV slow at both limits of its oscillation and shall have a substantially uniform rate of acceleration in both directions to and from the more rapid rate ,ot movement intermediate said limits of oscillation. This and other objects and advantages of the invenvtion will be more particularly pointed out inder and provided with an operating gearing embodying my invention.

Figures 2 and 3 are detail views of the gearing on an enlarged scale, representing the parts of the gearing in diii'erent positions.

Figures i and 5 are diagrammatic views .which will be more particularly described in the specification.

liQl'Gll'lIlg to that embodiment of the in vention illustrated in the drawingsa lO indicates the body of a washing machine, which is 01 any suitable construction. it includes. a tub 11 to contain the water for washing the clothes and an oscillatory cylinder 12, which is the receptacle for the clothes to be washed. indicates the usual wringer mounted on the tub.

The cylinder .01 receptacle 12 is mounted. in the tub in any convenient manner so as to be capable of an oscillatory movementof a predetermined amplitude. The gearing for imparting movement is all mounted on a bar or frame 1-1, which is attached to the upright legs 1515 at one end of the tub. The gearing is preferably enclosed in a gear .case 16, provided between the legs 15-15 and the adjacent end of the tub 11,a door 17 (shown in dotted lines in 1) hinged ceptacle l2, and is capable of operative con-' nection therewith in a familiar way not necessary to be described herein.

At one side of the operating arm 18 and as illustrated, somewhat below the same, is located a worm gear 20, which is suitably mounted'on the bar or frame ll. Said worm gear is in a plane at right angles to the axis of the stud shaft 19 and is driven by a horizontal worm 21 on a shaft 22, which is in .line with and is operatively connected to a shaft 23 of a motor 24. The motor 24: is at tached to and supported by the bar or frame 14:. A friction coupling mechanism 25, is preferably interposed between the shaft 22 and the motor shaft 23, in order to relieve the motor shaft in case the gearing or the parts driven thereby become obstructed or otherwise prevented from operation, so as to put too great a load on the motor.

The wringer 13 is driven by an upright shaft 26, which is connected to the worm 21 by a suitable worm gear.

28 indicates a crank pin on the worm gear, and 29 indicates the pitman which is designed to drive the operating arm 18. A

radius arm 30 is pivoted on the standard 14 to a horizontal pin 31. Said pin, as illustrated, is positioned below and a little to the right of the stud shaft 19. The end of the radius arm 30 is pivotally connected by a pin 32, to the pitman 29.

Thus far, the present form of the gearing is the same as that described in my previous application hereinabove referred to. The present form differs from the former in that, while in the former the radius arm and the operating arm were connected by a link, in the present form the radius arm and the operating arm have a pin and slot connection; that is to say, the pin 32 which connects the radius arm 30 to the pit-man 29, engages in an arcuate slot 33 in the operating arm.

The rotary movement of the crank pin 28 will impart, through the pitman 29, an oscillatory movement to the radius arm 30, and the radius arm through its pin and slot connection with the operating arm 18, namely, the pin 32 and the slot 33, will impart an oscillatory movement to the operating arm 18. It will be manifest from an inspection of Figures 2 and 3, that on account of the pin and slot connection of the pin 32 to the operating arm 18, the angle through which the operating arm 18 is oscillated (indicated by the are a) is much greater than the angle through which the radius arm is oscillated (indicated by the are (5).

In designing the parts comprising the gearing and as more particularly indicated in the diagrammatic views shown in Figures 2 and 3, the angle a is 130, While the angle 5 is approximately 60. An oscillation having an amplitude of 130,namely, 65 to one side of the vertical and 65 to the other side of the vertical, is about that required by the cylinder 12 in approximately a washing machine of the kind described.

The lengths of the several parts may be given in the terms of the crank arm (namely, the arm. 1* or radius of the circle .2 in which the crank pin 28 rotates) as a unit, substantially as follows:

The pitman 29 is of a length equal to four times the length of the crank arm; the radius arm. is twice the length. of the crank arm; and the operating arm 18 is of such length as to contain the arcuate slot which has a radius of of the length of the crank arm,-the manner of determining the position of said slot being as follows:

In locating the several centers, a line m-w may be drawn through the center of the crank pin circle to represent the median position of the pitman 29. The permitted length of the crank or the radius r of the crank pin circle is then determined. and after the circle of the crank pin 28 is described, the length of the pitman is laid out on the line zrm to the right (as illustrated) from both sides of the crank pin circle, to give the points on said line indicating the limits of movement of its right hand end. The line i ,y is then drawn at right angles to the line a2w through the point on-the line w-m midway between said limits. With apoint s on the line yg,/ as a center, and a radius l8 of assumed length (in this case 1 times the length of the crank arm) the are 64* is described. /Vith a point t on the line i as a center, and a longer radius, the are 6 is described,-- this representing the arc through which the pin 32 on the radius arm 30 is to oscillate. In the present example, the radius arm selected, as already pointed out, is twice the crank arm or the radius of the circle of the crank pin 28 and the position of its center on the line y g is such that the are described about said center is approximately 60 between the points where it intersects the line v With a point d (which is the central position of the pin 32 when at its left hand limit of movement), as a center, and a radius 33 (in this case of a length 1 times the length of the crank arm) an are e is described to intersect the assumed arc a With the said point of intersection e as a center and with the radius 33, the are 7 may be then described,-this being the designed are of travel of the pin 82 with reference to the operating arm 18. may then be formed to provide and include an arc of this radius to guide the pin 32.

From an examination of Figures 4: and 5, it will be apparent that the center of the pin 32 will move in the are 6 and that by reason of its pin and arcuate slot connection with the operating arm 18, in thus moving it will impart to said arm an oscillating movement, the amplitude and rate of which may be measured by the movement of the point e on the imaginary are a*,-- the angle of this are being equal to the angle of the arc a which is apparently the are through which the arm 18 is moved.

In Figures 4 and 5, I have shown diagrammatically the relative positions of the several parts of he gearing for different angles of movement of the crank from 0 to 360. To save confusion, the position of the parts from 0 to 90 are shown in Figure t and the position from 180 to 270 are shown in Figure 5. The 0 position of the crank corresponds to the left hand limit of movement of the pitman, while the 180 position of the crank corresponds to the right hand limit of movement of the pitman. Figure l thus represents the movement of the operating arm and radius arm away from the crank orbit, while Figure 5 represents the movement of the operating arm and radius arm towards the crank orhit.

While in describing the invention, I have referred to details of construction and arrangement of parts, the invention is no way intended to be limited thereto, except in so far as may be pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 1. A gearing for washing machines comprising; an operated member capable of a rotary, oscillatory movement; a rocker arm adapted for actuating said operated mem- The operating arm 18.

her; a pivoted radius arm of a lengthl greater than that of the rocker arm; means providing a pin and slot connection of said radius arm to said rocker arm, the slot being formed in an arc of a radius and being positioned relative to the arm carrying the pin, both predetermined to oscillate the operated member at a rapidly accelerated rate from the points of reversal to the mid point of the oscillatory movement, with the rates of acceleration from each reversal point substantially the same, and the rates of movement approaching and leaving both points of reversal, equally slow, avoiding shock at reversal; and means for driving said crank.

2. A gearing for washing machines comprising; a-n operated member capable of a rotary, oscillatory movement; a rocker arm adapted for actuating said operated member; a pivoted radius arm of a length greater than that of the rocker arm; a pin connecting the radius arm to the rocker arm; the rocker arm being provided with an arcuate slot in which said pin has bearing and movement, the radius of the arc of said slot and the position of said slot being both predetermined to oscillate the operated member at a rapidly accelerated rate from the points of reversal to the mid point of the oscillatory movement, with the rates of acceleration from each reversal point substantially the same, and the rates of movement approaching and leaving both points of reversal, equally slow, avoiding shock at reversal; and means for driving said crank.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 26th day of May, A. ll, 1920.

BRUCE CLARK WHITE.

Witnesses:

ELIAS ISAACS, MARY A. Fosrnn. 

